Political turbulence rocked Venezuela during 1999. Hugo Chávez Frías’s (seeBiographies) decisive victory in the December 1998 presidential elections ended 40 years of domination by political parties and politicians who had overthrown the dictatorship of Col. Marcos Pérez Jiménez (1951–58) and established one of Latin America’s most stable and long-lived democracies. That system began to decay in the 1980s, and falling oil prices, political corruption, and administrative mismanagement accelerated the decline. By 1999, 80% of Venezuela’s population lived below the poverty line. The economy’s nonpetroleum sectors were in shambles, and the quality of social services had reverted to levels not seen since the 1950s. At his February 1999 inauguration, President Chávez promised to replace the existing “moribund” and “unjust” order with a new and responsive democracy.

Chávez rapidly organized an April 25 referendum, in which 85% of the voters authorized elections to select delegates to a Constituent Assembly, whose charge was to draft a new constitution. In the July 25 elections, Chávez supporters won 121 of the 131 seats in the Constituent Assembly. Its draft constitution was circulated during November, and on December 15 approval by 72% of voters in a national referendum made it the law of the land. This document, modeled on the constitution of France’s Fifth Republic, increased presidential power by extending the term of office to six years and by allowing for the immediate reelection of the president to one additional term. In other words, should Chávez win the presidential elections scheduled for June 2000, he could remain president until 2012.

The new constitution also strengthened the president’s hand in dealing with the legislative branch, the state governors, and the mayors, especially in matters of public finance. In addition, it replaced the existing bicameral congress with a unicameral national assembly, reformed the judiciary, granted a broad spectrum of economic and social rights to all citizens, and established legal mechanisms to protect Venezuela’s indigenous culture. (SeeSpecial Report:South America’s Indigenous Peoples.) Finally, the constitution centralized the military command structure and increased the armed forces’ role in policy implementation.

Venezuela’s traditional elites, despite being blamed by the popular classes for the national decline, retained substantial influence. Between July 1998 and December 1999, they expressed their lack of confidence in Chávez by transferring more than $4 billion out of the country. Already-tense relations between entrepreneurs and the president became more so during the campaign leading up to the December 15 referendum. Business organizations publicly urged voters to reject the new constitution, and the president responded by labeling his private-sector opponents “degenerates,” “rancid oligarchs,” and “squealing pigs.”

Venezuela’s status as a major petroleum producer provided an important financial cushion that mitigated the negative economic consequences of political turmoil. At the beginning of 1999, state planners had assumed that the average market price for a “basket” of Venezuela’s crude oils would hover around $9 a barrel, but as of mid-December that price exceeded $23, and the state was thus provided with an unanticipated $4 billion in revenue. The economy, nevertheless, was expected to contract by almost 7%, and inflation was running at an annual rate of 20%. A further setback came when flash floods and mud slides swamped Venezuela’s Caribbean coast in mid-December, claiming 20,000–50,000 lives and causing widespread destruction. (SeeDisasters.)

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